European Court: banks must refund phishing victims immediately
On 15 October 2026 the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that a bank must refund an unauthorised payment immediately, even if it thinks the customer was careless. The ruling applies in all countries of the European Union.
1What was decided
- The case (C-70/25) was about a Polish customer. He was selling something online, got a fake bank page and lost about 700 €. His bank refused to refund him because he had supposedly been “grossly negligent”.
- The Court says: the bank must refund by the end of the next working day after the customer reports it. A suspicion of gross negligence is no reason to wait.
- The only exception: serious signs that the customer committed fraud themselves. The bank must then report this in writing to the competent authority.
- If the bank thinks the customer was grossly negligent, it can ask for the money back afterwards. But then the bank has to prove it itself, and go to court if necessary.
2An example: Belgium
The ruling applies to every bank in the EU. In Belgium, a summary-proceedings judge in Antwerp already ruled in June 2026 that a bank had to compensate an elderly couple immediately. They had been scammed out of almost 50,000 € by a fake bank employee. Febelfin, the federation of Belgian banks, says the banks will follow the Court's reading.
3What this means
- Banks often refused to refund with the argument of “gross negligence”.
- According to lawyer Geert Lenssens, real gross negligence is the great exception.
- Anyone who acted in good faith and reported quickly is now in a stronger position.
4What to do now
- Call your bank or the national blocking line straight away (see “Help by country”) to have everything blocked.
- Report the fraud to your bank in writing without delay and ask for a refund. Refer to ruling C-70/25 of 15 October 2026.
- Bank refuses? Ask for a written explanation and file a complaint with the banking ombudsman in your country. Also report it to the police.
- Fraudstop: 078 170 170, day and night, to have everything blocked.
- Complaint about your bank: Ombudsfin (ombudsfin.be).
Better than being refunded is not being robbed. WolfKey always shows which website is asking for something and lets nothing happen without your finger.
Get WolfKeySuspicious number, email or website? Check it or report it.
Examples have been made unrecognisable. Names and numbers in the examples are made up.